


Earthling, You Too Burn So Pretty

by gomushroom



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-27
Updated: 2013-09-27
Packaged: 2018-10-12 03:01:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10480647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gomushroom/pseuds/gomushroom
Summary: On the Arakawa riverside, Shun, Village Chief in his dubious kappa wetsuit, has Sho trade grass straws for a crazy family.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s a story of Arashi in Arakawa under the Bridge Universe. Written for je-otherworlds for mynamelessname. Mostly based more on the anime version rather than the live-action with a lace of basic plot from an old Japanese folk tale, Straw Millionaire, there’s no major spoilers of the original. One doesn't need to know the original story to read this—it spiralled uncontrollably all over the place anyway. 
> 
> Extra warning: This contains crackiness in many absurd forms, stupid exploitation of grenade and very sharp objects.
> 
> Thank you faithlucifel, yumenosete and ltgmars for being extremely wonderful; without you guys this will never exist ♥!

The moment a pair of strong hands take firm hold of his arms, relief instantly surges through Sho’s entire convulsing body. The water is cold and his lungs are burning. His eyes can't make out anything as he further sinks into the darkness of the river. He struggles to let his mind give in to the incessant pull, knowing that it will bring him back to the surface, that he will be able to get air soon, that he will not die today even if everything goes dark and silent the next moment.

*

Sho stirs back into consciousness, sensing someone sitting not far beside him, the faint smell of lavender mixed with fresh grass surrounding him. He remembers the choking water, the stinging coldness of the bottom of the river. “Oh,” he mutters.

A man is holding a long fishing rod, sitting next to him. He turns when he hears the mutter and senses movement from his side and greets him. “Ah, you’re awake now.”

Ignoring the greeting, eyes fluttering closed, Sho tries to collect himself properly as he gives in to the temptation of curling up on the ground. His clothes are wet, his shoes damp, but his breathing is steady. The cool breeze calms him as he tries to slowly recall how he ended up splaying on the ground. His fingers dig into fresh soil and tall grass, the sound of water very close even though it could be miles away, creating a clearer picture by the second.

He sits up abruptly. “Oh, God. I fell into the river, didn’t I? I did. Then, then, I fell into the river, then I was trying to come back to the surface, fighting for breath. Everything went dark, but there’s… there was…. You?” He stares in disbelief, running out of breath, memory rolling back through him in a wave.

“I just pulled you with a gentle tug, nothing much,” the man says, tilting his head curiously. “And I can see that you’re breathing fine now that you’re back on land.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were having difficulty swimming back to the surface.” The man shrugs when Sho doesn’t say anything else. “But what else would you expect out of Earthlings?”

“Swimming wasn’t easy to begin with and I was…. _What_? Earthlings?”

The man hums in response as he pulls his fishing rod off, getting it out of water and setting it next to a bucket of water with a few fishes splashing inside.

“You’re calling me an Earthling?”

“Well, you are, aren’t you? We Venusians fare better in underwater endurance and swimming in general.”

“Venusian?”

“You make a cute face when you make that ‘huh’ sound. Is it a sign of disbelief? Or lack of understanding?”

Sho couldn’t help it. The man has a good point, yet he is at a loss for coherent words. “Huh?”

“Anyway, I guess that’s all then,” he continues, ignoring Sho’s disbelief, turning back to gaze at the river in front of them, his long hair blown back by the wind. “Unless you want some fish for dinner?”

“No!” Sho almost jumps into a firm sitting position. “No dinner. No anything. Nothing.”

“All right,” the man says lightly, without turning from the river. “It’s almost time to get home anyway.”

 

**A hard-working […] peasant [?]**

The wave of black hair swinging on the man’s shoulder keeps Sho entranced as he tries to form his response to all of the unexpected information. All he can think of is that he wants to reach over, touch and thread his fingers through that hair, that jet black hair; it can’t be anything but light and soft.

Sho catches himself and tries to take his mind off the hair. He snaps back to the lingering thoughts, to the manners that have been ingrained in him since as long as he can remember, and to his condition at the moment. He drowned and this man, this man with soft, long hair, saved him; that means, by simple calculation, he now owes this man a life, his life.

“So, what’s in it for you?”

“In what?”

Sighing tiredly, now that his mind has properly caught up, Sho realizes for the first time that he has probably committed the first and most stupid debt in his life for this man. So much for adhering to a strict set of principles: never, not ever, being indebted to other people, never taking anything from other people, and being perfectly independent.

“What’s in it for you?” Sho repeats his question more slowly, watching in growing attention as the man finally turns to look at him. Conversation needs to be done face to face. The sooner he can settle his debt, the sooner he can go home. He can feel the clamminess of his skin, and he desperately needs to change out of his now clingy and damp shirt.

“I don’t understand your question.”

“What do you want in return?” Sho’s voice turns to his cold, clipped business tone, much to his relief. He’s going to settle this matter once and for all, all business, and then he’ll owe nothing to this man, and that will settle everything in satisfactory fashion. “Or to put it bluntly, you saved my life and I am forever grateful for that,” Sho says. “Now I’m offering you anything of your fancy as repayment. So, what do you want? Anything, anything at all, in return?”

The man looks at him with straight-forward eyes and blinks. “Nothing.”

“No, you see, I think you haven’t perfectly understood what I just offered.” Sho can’t hold back a snort. It’s just damn laughable. It seems that the man hasn’t gotten his message full on. He tries again to explain; perhaps simplification will yield better results. “I’m offering you anything in return for your kindness in saving my life. And when I say anything, I mean anything. You name it and it’s yours.”

The man still looks fixedly at Sho with his blank stare, shifting a bit so he can take a good look at Sho but still giving no answer.

Sho decides to take the confused look as another sign of incomprehension and explains further. “Isn’t there anything that you want?”

The man nods and Sho’s face brightens with a wide smile.

“What shall it be then?”

“A return trip to Venus. I haven’t gone home in a while, so that’d be nice.”

Sho’s face flushes at the answer, both with impatience and annoyance. To be fair, the man had said that he was from Venus, but even with his power he can’t grant that kind of pesky, if not near impossible, request. “Okay, then,” he says, correcting his previous statement. If the man wants to believe that he’s from Venus and wants to get a return ticket himself, Sho couldn’t care less. He still has a debt to settle. “I was talking about anything, anything at all on _this_ planet.”

“Then, nothing.”

On the verge of being completely dejected, Sho tries his luck. “Anything, name anything. House? Sports car? New array of clothing? Position in any company?” He wasn’t throwing jokes at the slightest, yet the man doesn’t give any kind of response.

Sho then falls into silence. He can feel the wind growing excruciatingly stronger now; his clammy skin itches with prickles of pain, his head throbs. “But it’d be overly devastating to owe someone something,” he says, murmuring to himself softly while looking down in defeat at both his pale palms. “I should never owe anyone because that’d be unsuitable for a person of my status.”

The silence continues and Sho can only drown himself in the sound of the river, strangely comforting his clouded mind. He knows he needs to do something to settle the situation but at this point, at the point where he’s run out of choices, out of offers, he can’t think of anything else.

Sho is so lost in thought, he misses the sound of the man rummaging through his jersey pocket and pulling out a piece of paper.

“Hey,” the man says, turning to Sho, who still has his eyes fixed on his palms. “Hey!”

Startled, Sho looks up and finds himself eye to eye with the man again. “Yeah?”

“How about I come up with something that I want from you?”

Sho straightens his back immediately. “Yes. Please, anything.”

“You hate being indebted to people that much?” the man says, and without waiting for Sho’s answer he continues, “All right then.”

“You have something?”

The man nods softly. “I have two things I want.”

“Name them and they’re yours,” Sho says. No matter what or how many things the man wants, he will see to it that he’s properly granted the wishes.

“First, your name.”

“Eh?” Completely not expecting such a request, Sho leans forward to make sure he’s hearing things properly.

“Your name,” the man repeats. “You have a name, don’t you? Mine is Jun. What’s yours?”

“My name?” Sho says, completely bewildered. So the man’s name is Jun? And Jun wants to know his name? At the very least, Sho now owes this Jun a proper introduction. “My name? My name is Sakurai Sho of Sakurai Corporation.”

“It’s Sho, then.”

No one has called him simply “Sho” in a long time; it’s always his last name with proper honorific suffixes, and this Jun doesn’t even flinch at the mention of Sakurai Corporation, a fact that almost never happens now that his family business is ruling the Japanese business world.

Then again, he reminds himself, Jun can call him anything if that is the way Sho can repay him for saving his life. “Fine. Sho it is for you. And your second wish would be?”

“You did say anything, right?”

“I did.”

“Anything within this Earth?”

“Yes. So what would it be?”

Jun turns away a moment to then visibly clutch the piece of paper in his right hand. “Can you love me?”

The wave of black hair distracts Sho again as it shifts along with the wind, bringing the lavender scent back to his senses. He sees Jun’s fair face clearly with the sun setting behind his back, illuminating the pale glow of his eyes. His mouth is closed tight without a smile; Sho was half-expecting one to appear so he can tell him that it was just a joke. Jun stays silent, waiting for his response, and Sho feels an unfamiliar warmth crawling pleasantly on his skin, reaching his face. He wants to look away, to blink his sense back to place, but he finds himself staring, willingly adrift in their silent exchange of gazes, and he lets out the answer that was already on the tip of his tongue as soon as Jun finished his question. “Yes.”

Jun doesn’t smile, but his face brightens in an exquisitely beautiful way; it’s enough to bring Sho back to reality. He just answered yes to the question. It’s Jun’s wish and he’s going to grant it—it is a way of repaying his debt, and if it’s what Jun wants, then it’s all settled.

“Yes.”

“I got you the first time, Sho. We are lovers now then.”

“Right.” Feeling a bit dazed somehow, Sho now realizes that it’s getting darker. He tries to taste the word on his lips, “lovers,” before he can stop himself.

Time to go home, he reminds himself. He waits for Jun to call it a day as he watches Jun move. He now catches a glimpse of the piece of paper clutched tight in Jun’s hand. “What’s that?”

“This?” Jun holds the paper toward him. “A magazine clipping.”

Sho can only stare at it. “Clipping? Magazine?”

“You sound surprised,” Jun says. “I’ll tell you about it later. We have to get you settled now.”

When Jun stands, Sho hurriedly does the same. “Settled? Where?”

“Here in Arakawa, of course,” Jun says, before adding with a hint of concern on his voice, “Ah, but first you need to meet the Chief.”

“Chief?”

“The village chief of Arakawa. He’ll be around the water at this hour.” Jun steps forward to meet Sho’s reflex backward step and hold out his hand for him. “Come on, let’s go. It’s going to be dusk soon.”

*

“Chief.” Jun beams with pleasure at seeing a man float toward the riverside where he and Sho have been waiting for a while now. They watch him slither out of the water with very little grace and flop near their feet in silence—Jun with an interested gaze and Sho with a visible deep frown.

“Ah, that was a nice swim,” Chief says as he rolls over on the ground to settle himself comfortably, dripping wet and all.

“What are you?” Sho can’t help to ask, now that he finally gets a full look at the man sprawled on the ground lazily. The man is clad in a loose green wetsuit, with green mask and what appears to be waterproof dark green makeup—one detail that caught Sho’s attention the most. “Kappa?”

The man called Chief only smiles as he rolls again to lie on his side and prop his head in one arm, twisting his feet loosely, now facing them. Jun sits down gently on the ground, pulling Sho’s trousers, signalling him to follow suit. As Sho complies and descends, he can see in greater detail the green man’s wetsuit and the blatant zipper that hangs near his nape.

“Now that we’re all settled in this warm small circle,” the man says, gesturing at the small space they are sharing now even though the wide riverside is completely empty. “What can I do for you?”

“Kappa costume? Why?”

The man makes an exaggerated gasp. “Costume? What costume?”

“That costume you’re wearing now.” Sho points at bits of water oozing out of the wetsuit as their talk continues.

“This is not a costume,” the man says, all while he pulls at part of his sleeve and wrings it out. “This is my skin. As it is.”

Sho chokes on his laughter, to which Jun helpfully pats him on the shoulder. “Are you saying you are really a kappa?”

“Yup. The name is Shun but people here call me Chief.” The man replies lightly before he shifts his eyes to Jun in a smile. “And who’s this fancy guy you brought here with you today, Jun?”

Jun has his mouth open to answer when Sho cuts him short with a furious protest. “Wait a minute. Kappa don’t exist. You’re just a man with a green wetsuit who, who happens to swim in the river.”

“Well, you should believe what you see, since I’m right here in front of you.”

“—splayed out with your wetsuit leaking and your mask damp?”

Hurt flashes in Shun’s eyes before he throws a pout and gaze in Jun’s direction again.

“Sho, you shouldn’t say bad things like that to Chief. It’s impolite,” Jun says.

Jun’s tone is flat as he speaks but Sho has enough manners to know that he crossed the line just now. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me—”

“Yeah, that was rude of you,” Shun says, raising a fist to the air as a sign of early victory.

“—still,” Sho continues. All his manners can be thrown into the river at the moment for all he cares. “That is definitely a wetsuit.”

Shun glares at him for a good five seconds before shrugging the matter off. “Okay. You’re forgiven.”

“I am?” Sho wants to add, “even if I didn’t mean a single word in that apology? That was quick and abrupt.” But he chooses to leave the statement out.

“You are,” Shun says, as he shifts again against his probably completely dried costume. “I was going to brood a little longer but it’s going to get dark soon, so better not. And I don’t even know who you are yet. Jun?”

“This is Sho. My lover.” Jun is ready with his answer, calm and sure gaze fixed on Shun. “And he’s going to stay here by the riverside. That’s why I brought him to meet you now.”

Sho’s mouth gapes open as he tries to blink his confusion off. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“Oooh, lovers spat already?”

“You shut up.” Sho indifferently waves Shun off, as he tries to face Jun. “What was that you’re saying about _me_ living here?”

Jun holds his gaze straight at Shun, whose face is now slowly blooming with a loopy smile. He doesn’t turn even at Sho’s attempt to yank his jersey sleeve to get his attention. “Sho?”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t we agree that you are going to be my lover?”

“Yes, we did,” Sho answers in desperation. What is happening all of a sudden throws him off completely. Now, at least Jun is willing to reason, and Sho is a good negotiator himself. He should make sure that the bargain doesn’t grow into something that he can’t handle. “We did agree that I am to be your lover.”

“And isn’t a lover supposed to be in close proximity most of the time?”

“Huh?”

Jun rummages through his pocket again to produce the piece of paper Sho saw earlier. He holds it out to Sho. “It says so here.”

Sho snatches the paper out of Jun’s hand and skims the article quickly before slowly raising his head with a look full of concern and, just a sliver of, horror. “This is,” he says, stifled with worry, “a girl’s magazine.”

“Now, read the title,” Jun says.

“’ _Love Overcomes Distance: How Long Distance Relationships Never Work_.’”

“See?” Jun then turns to give him a pat on the shoulder. “We lovers shouldn’t have distance between us.”

“And that means—“

“—you’re staying here under the bridge with us. I then can meet you every day and there won't be any problems.”

Sho tries hard to control his breathing, staring in disbelief at Jun. Why did Jun expect him to stay at the riverside? He’d need to settle here, though it’s a word that Jun used before, now that he lets their previous conversation repeat in his head. He should’ve known better than to lower his guard during negotiations. And then the other point. “Problem?”

“Jun has a long term memory problem. If he doesn’t see you each day, he may forget about you,” Shun says as he helpfully and—now Sho can see—cheerfully watches the two converse.

Sho is about to turn to Shun to shut him up when he catches the last phrase. “You may what?”

“You said anything within this Earth, right?” Jun says, shrugging and holding his gaze steady at Sho and in a way giving silent confirmation of what Shun has just said.

Sho nods weakly. He can see a glint of pleasure on Jun’s eyes and wonders why it gives him enough encouragement to try, or at least to stop protesting.

“Very well then.” Shun claps his hands now that the discussion is over. He waits until they turn toward him before he waves his hand formally. “Welcome to Arakawa, Sho.”

 

**Escape poverty? [But as it happens, I’m already rich]**

At the first Sunday Mass, Shun makes an invisible gesture by inviting everyone from the village to meet him. They even throw a welcome party that leads to a session of Sunday Mass. Everything passes in a blur for Sho as he moves from one person to another with growing unease.

He is about to deem the day just plain weird and go back to the fancy tent he’s chosen as the form of his new home when a tall man corners him.

“Is your love real? If so, I hope you bring Jun a lot of happiness," Aiba, as Shun called this man with a nun robe and cold eyes, says. Sho supposes that it is a congratulatory gesture in a way, before he hears the man add in a threatening low voice, "Or else."

"Or else?" Sho can’t help it, but his voice quivers at the addition.

Aiba's hand reaches inside his robe, and the next moment Sho feels the cold tip of a gun.

“Wait a second! Aiba?” Sho does nothing but freeze in place as he tries to reason with Aiba.

“This is an Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine gun and you’re deflecting my question!”

“I don’t know!” Panic starts rising in Sho’s head when Aiba keeps on staring at him with hard cold eyes. The gun isn’t helping either, and Sho can swear he’s picking up the scent of gunpowder. “I don’t know, okay? And can you please put that away? It makes me nervous.”

“Nervous people tend to answer truthfully to questions asked.”

“I don’t intend to lie to begin with,” Sho says.

Aiba tilts his head aside a bit, considering. He’s still staring hard at Sho’s eyes, holding eye contact, but the coldness gradually disappears. “Go on.”

“I don’t know about love,” Sho begins again, holding his hand up in front of his face to let Aiba know that he should at least wait till he’s finished his sentence. “What I know is that I am not planning to make him unhappy.”

After a long hard stare, Aiba finally sets his gun inside his robe. “Good enough for me. Hang in there, soldier!" Aiba smacks him hard on the back, making Sho unbalanced and sending him staggering clumsily forward.

After he has regained his composure, there’s nothing much Sho can say. Deep down he knows Aiba means well because he apparently cares about Jun, cares enough to point a gun at his new so-called lover’s forehead to dig out a confession. Yet, there’s only so much one can tolerate. “By the way, how can you carry that thing around? Aren’t you going to get arrested?”

Aiba smiles wide at that, so wide that Sho can only interpret it as either display of chilling confidence or pure innocence. Both are worrying him all the same.

*

Shun dips into the water until only his shoulders up is left unsubmerged; he needs to be careful with his eye makeup, now that he has put in a lot of effort applying it in the morning. It’ll grow uncomfortable on his face later but he needs to have a good appearance today. Especially today when his schedule is full and there’s no time to slack at the slightest: morning for Nino and afternoon for Sho.

From the distance he can very well see Nino pedalling his old bike with difficulty; bold neon-green floral print parka flapping against his red shorts, contrasting with his yellow star mask. Shun readies himself to welcome Nino; the guy has never learned that he should’ve left his bike at home if he’s going to meet him by the river, nor that he should attempt sporting a less blinding fashion sense. Then again, it isn’t Shun’s place to tell him.

“Yo.” Shun keeps himself afloat in an attempt to look relaxed as he welcomes Nino.

“Chief!” That’s the only greeting Shun gets before Nino dumps his bike unceremoniously on its side and stomps toward the edge of the river to plop himself down, catching his breath.

“Looking good as usual, Nino,” Shun says. “Alone today?”

Still catching his breath, Nino makes a gesture with his thumb over his shoulder. “Mao-chan was trailing behind me just now. She says she’ll be here when she gets here.”

“Okay.”

Shun splashes some water around himself playfully while he waits for Nino to finally catch his breath. Not long afterwards, Mao comes sliding down the slope with her line field marker, discharging a white line for her to step on as she makes a solid track toward the riverside.

She stops besides Nino and greets Shun. “Chief, good morning!”

“Morning, Mao-chan. Looking good as usual!”

Nino rolls his eyes. “You just said the same thing to me!”

“That’s because you both are looking good as usual.”

She sets her line marker on her side and sits next to Nino. “Sorry I cannot keep up, Nino. I just refilled the hopper and it’s a bit heavy. You were in a hurry.”

“It’s okay,” Nino says. Now that he’s meeting Shun, he can set out on redressing his grievances.

“What is it then?” Shun begins, giving them the chance to start their conversation straight up. “I can see you coming from a mile away, Nino. You have something important to tell me?”

“He’s been grumpy since yesterday,” Mao says instead before sharing a knowing glance with Shun, but both hold their smiles.

“I can be grumpy all I like.” Nino’s back straightens up, his hunch less noticeable now. He folds his hands in his lap, now that he has worked his temper back, his slight and puffy yellow face flushed. “I have two different complaints and it’s better for me to go through them one by one to avoid confusion on your part.”

“Spit it out then.”

“First, it’s that jerk Sho.”

“It has always been Sho, these past few weeks,” Mao says, giving Nino’s shoulder a comforting pat when he turns to her with a frown. “Don’t be mad. I’m offering understanding.”

“Sure you are,” Nino says with a pout, not trusting the offer even a bit. They will listen to him, but it doesn't mean that they’ll be good enough to agree with him at the end.

Shun knows that he needs to speed this up before they all spend the whole morning just hearing Nino’s complaints. “Then?”

“First, it’s Sho. He ruins _everything_ here,” Nino says, before huffing a deep and loud puff. “Why is he _even_ allowed to stay here? His _expensive_ tent detracts from my view of morning sky. He passes by _every_ morning near my trailer only to make a racket when he _stumbles_ over the empty bottle crates. He’s polluting the air, too. I _cannot_ breath the same air as him, and I am going to smoke my way out of this life if _that’s_ the only way to pollute his air back.”

Shun bubbly nods at every strong emphasis Nino makes.

Nino continues. “And second, it’s that jerk. Sho.”

Mao absently hums a song about a couple bumping umbrellas, her soft gaze fixed on the bridge in the distance to the far right. “Your gentle smile~”

Nino rolls his eyes at the familiar tune but ignores her as he pounces on with another complaint. He knows that Mao and Shun are listening despite their reactions at the moment, and that’s all he can ask for.

*

Before long, seeing that now Shun has completely lost his focus on listening and Nino has been repeating the same points three times already, Mao cuts Nino off at the middle of his on-going rant. “Still, Nino, Jun-kun does look happier these days.”

Mao’s statement stops Shun from making another pose. “That’s true.”

In disbelief, Nino turns his scowl from her toward Shun. “But I also deserve to look happier.”

“That’s also true,” Shun says, nodding his agreement, “so very true.”

“But, but I can’t simply accept that. Who the hell does the guy think he is?! Coming here and all of a sudden snatching Jun out of my reach. The guy has some damn nerves. Didn’t he know that Jun is technically taken?”

Shun murmurs something that sounds like, “in your starry dreams, that is,” but he soon casts his gaze upward to the sky in fake thoughtfulness at Nino’s quick hurt glance.

Nino has been pouting and squinting with hate at Shun for a full minute when Mao gives her answer. “But this way, aren’t you going to have ample ammunition for another ballad composing streak?”

“Oh, yeah, the composing streak was awesome.” Shun makes a solid turn, splashing the water around. It won’t be long before they can settle things with Nino on agreeable terms. He can sense them reaching an agreement.

“Mao-chan.” Ignoring Shun as he knows the man is useless now since he’s back to splashing the water, Nino whines, running out of good reasons for his argument. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

“Jun-kun’s.”

“Nice answer.” Shun compliments her with a thumbs up. He shifts his gaze to Nino to find the yellow man emitting steam from the tip of his star mask. “Nino, you’re letting out too much steam. Be careful.”

Nino lets out a choked scream before he throws his hands in the air and lies down to curl on the ground with his back toward Shun and Mao.

“There, there.” Mao leans in and reaches over to give Nino pats on the shoulder. He at first flinches, and then shrugs before he relents, staying still in a tighter curl.

“I’ll be initiating Arakawa Broken-Hearted Team as soon as I can ease this pain stabbing at my heart,” Nino mutters loud enough for the other two to hear. “You guys just wait and see.”

*

They wait for Nino to come around, or to be more precise, to uncurl his limbs and sit up straight again, even with the same sullen look still pasted on his yellow face, Mao humming the same song twice and Shun sinking further down underwater to resurface with a big splash.

“Say, Nino,” Shun says, “tomorrow’s Sunday. How about I tell Aiba that we need a new song for the Sunday meeting? I can count on you to deal with that, right?”

Even if he’s not fully recovered from the sadness he’s wrapped around himself, Nino cheers up at the suggestion. “I can deal with that easy task,” he says with a pronounced huff. “I’m a goddamn star after all.”

Mao claps with delight. “Nice.”

“A star with a crooked mask unfortunately.” Shun tilts his head in worry as he takes a closer look at Nino.

Mao turns to glance at Nino’s face and lets out a little squeal. “Ah, he’s right, Nino. Your mask is crooked.”

“You should have remembered to take your mask off before you curled on the ground just now, Nino. The right sharp points are bent every which way now.”

Nino slowly pats one of the tips, feels a crooked end, and sends a pleading gaze toward Shun. “Chief, how did we do this again?”

“Here, let me help you.” Shun rises out of the water, dripping wet, and he squats next to Nino before he pets and smoothens the sharp points with ease. “You should be careful next time. The mask adds so many things to your appearance as a nice guy.”

“I don’t know how you came to such a conclusion, Chief, but I cannot agree more.” Nino stays still as Shun turns him around to fix the top left sharp point. “Nice guy, that’s me.”

“Now that you bring that up,” Mao says, “Sho is also a nice guy. We went on an afternoon stroll the other day. He wears that fancy white shirt and red tie that looks so soft, a very nice bonus point.”

Shrugging off Shun’s hold, Nino’s scowl returns. “I am dressing myself nice and fancy too. Everyday,” he says while showing off the front of his neon-green floral print parka.

Mao and Shun share a look for a moment too long before turning to offer Nino a sweet smile and a supportive nod, even though it is too late.

“You two are not helping, not helping at all.” Nino lets out more steam from under his mask. He abruptly rises to his feet, throwing one last scowl at the other two. “I’ll get that broken-hearted team ready and nothing will stop me!”

He then stomps his way to his bike with a loud scream.

“He is such a passionate guy,” Shun says to Mao as they together watch Nino kick his old bike and then pedal back toward his trailer. “That’s the spirit, Star.”

Mao shrugs good-naturedly in response.

“All right then, Mao-chan, off I go for my morning swim.” Shun sing-songs the end of his sentence before giving an exaggerated nod and jumping into the water.

“Okay, Chief.” Mao waves him off. “I think I’m going to stay here a while. The bridge looks amazingly lovely this morning.”

“Whatever floats your boat.” Shun floats toward the middle of the water after doing a fancy back splash.

“I don’t own a boat, but thanks anyway.”

*

A few rounds of large laps and deep dives later, Shun can hear the sound of Aiba’s boots strutting closer. “Aiba,” he says, waving from the middle of the river, “I was going to visit you later but you’re here already. You’ve really saved me a trip.”

“Chief, it’s just a 10-meter walk. It’s nothing.” Aiba stands by the riverside as he waits for Shun to swim closer to the side. Wind blows his short bangs sticking out of the nun veil, framing his face sharper around his sad eyes.

“Ah, those were good laps.” Shun crawls his way to the ground before collapsing in an undignified sprawl. “And since now I’m on my much needed break, let’s hear it. What’s up with you?”

Aiba takes the time to fold his leg over the long dark nun robe, dust gathering on his worn-out boot. He finally sits on his leg before clearing his throat. “I have a favour to ask.”

“Anything. What is it?” Shun turns to lie on his side as he takes a good look at Aiba.

“I have a friend coming this weekend,” Aiba says, his gaze fixed on some point far away. “His name is Yoko and I think he’s going to stay with us for a while.”

“Sure.” Shun puts his head on his elbow, relaxing his exhausted muscles. “You know, you don’t even need to come to me for such a small matter, Aiba.”

“This is not small at the least,” Aiba says, with a deeply serious tone. “Yoko has, what shall I call it—an issue.”

Interest piqued, Shun shifts a bit. “An issue? What kind of issue?”

“He has gone through so many difficulties back where he comes from. He might later have a relapse, or two. So I’m here to assure you that it will not harm us… well, not too much. He’s a nice guy. He just has attachment issues, serious ones.”

“I see.”

Aiba falls silent and Shun lets him, giving himself an opportunity to discern the explanation. An idea crosses his mind and he brightens up.

“You should put him in the class then.”

Aiba turns in mild surprise. “Sho’s class?”

“Well, we don’t have any other class, do we?”

“I see.” Aiba nods his agreement. “Perhaps it’s a good idea. It’d give him a chance to mingle with his peers.”

“If his peers are the twins and Jun, that is,” Shun says, barely able to hold in his chuckles. “But perhaps Sho can do something about him, this Yoko guy.”

“He’s a good teacher, I must admit.”

“And I must agree with you. I took a peek last week and the twins were laughing over his fail attempt of making salt brick as foundation for a boat of some sort.” Shun lets out a short chuckle finally. “That guy is cute.”

“He kind of is, even if I was a bit rough on him. It’s good to see he’s earnest though,” Aiba says, grumbling good-naturedly with his low voice. “I should get going, Chief. I need to head to the farm. Rebecca is expecting me.”

“Okay. I’m going to lie here for a while to rest my aching muscles.”

Aiba rises in brisk and swift movements, his robe almost swiping Shun in the face. “Thank you for you time, Chief.”

Shun gives no response but a yawn, and Aiba struts away.

“Ah, today is unexpectedly busy,” Shun says, casting his gaze toward the blaring sun before sighing. “And it’s far from over.”

 

**[a handful] of straw grass: now did you say trade and haggle?**

“And this—“ Jun releases Sho’s arm, stepping aside to give him a full view of the place, “—is my palace.”

“Uhm, you mean, place. Your place?”

“No.” Jun stares him, before repeating more slowly. “Palace.”

“Right.” Sho nods sceptically, correcting himself. “Palace.”

Jun eagerly points out his possessions around the closed-in place even with the apparent lack of enthusiasm on his sharp face.

For as long as Sho has known him, facial expression hasn’t been any indication of Jun’s mood. His eyes will sparkles with delight even if his lips don’t form a smile. His hands will clutch Sho’s tight even if his cheeks don’t show his flush. Sho feels like he could get used to the fact, the warmth, but for now he’s being invited to visit Jun’s place as part of their second, or was it third, not that Sho’s counting, date, and he needs to take the opportunity to pay attention.

Sho’s eyes zero in on tall messy stacks of magazines in the corner of the room. “You like girls’ magazine that much?”

Jun hums his answer. He watches Sho walk toward the stack, running his hand on the binding of the magazines with more questions. “I guess I do.”

“How did you get all these? Do you even read them all?”

“Sometimes I pick up some of them from the rubbish in the public park downstream. Sometimes people give me a few issues if they think I’d like the magazine. I try to read them all even if my collection grows larger and larger and I would be stuck all day at home if I did.”

“That’s amazing. I didn’t know that you read this much.” Sho comes closer to the stacks, still in awe as he reads the titles from the side. He can’t really see the covers but he could guess the themes from seeing so much white and pink glossy paper. “If you like magazines that much, I can buy them for you, any of them. Whatever you like.”

“Huh?” Jun blinks. “Why? Is that because we’re lovers?”

It shouldn’t make him flush since Jun has been proclaiming so for over a month now but Sho feels his cheeks grow warm, as usual, at the word Jun seems to like so much. “Because I want to.”

Tilting his head a bit, Jun stares at Sho, searching for another, firmer answer. “You do?”

“Of course I do! If you like magazines that much, I’ll buy you few more stacks, even the whole bookstore if you just ask.”

“But I am not asking for a few more stacks or a whole bookstore. I can barely read them properly as it is. There are many unfamiliar kanji characters, and the ones with fewer pictures are complicated,” Jun says, much to Sho’s disappointment.

While Jun might not sound serious, Sho knows that he isn’t kidding every time he says so. Perhaps he needs to buy something for Jun the next time he goes back to town. That will be interesting, Sho notes, his mind already racing ahead of him with a few flashes of plans.

“Sho?” Jun’s question pulls him back to Jun’s room and his magazine stacks.

“Yes,” he quickly says, focusing on the stack. ”Sorry, I was thinking.”

Jun looks at him with straight eyes and blinks. “You’re always thinking.”

Sho ignores the statement and gestures at Jun to continue with the tour. By the time Jun has shown him everything and Sho can’t stand being in such close proximity with Jun and the lingering scent of his lavender shampoo, it’s already late afternoon.

Unsure whether he should offer Jun a thank you or just take things lightly, Sho lets his question hang in the air. “So?”

“So.” Jun doesn’t add anything else and closes his door behind him. Together they stand close under the canopy of the rundown trailer.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Sho then says, the flush rushing back to his cheeks. “I had a great time.”

“I had fun too,” Jun says, his eyes fixed lightly on Sho’s cheek. “I did need to invite my lover to my house at some point, right?”

“Right.” Sho tries to follow Jun’s viewpoint while growing a bit more flustered now that he sees that Jun is glowing a bit, if not a lot.

*

Sho steps out first to the road with Jun right behind him. He stops abruptly, causing Jun to bump into his back, when he sees Nino on his bike along with Mao standing behind her line field marker, a sullen face and a polite smile respectively. He groans in frustration. “What are you guys, concerned parents?”

Nino shifts with what Sho supposes is Nino’s version of a threatening pose—even though one can’t be very threatening while sitting on that old bike saddle. “We just want to make sure you don’t do lewd things in there.”

“Gutter mind,” Sho mutters under his breath.

“We are just having a home date,” Jun says, helpfully clarifying what actually doesn’t need to be clarified.

“Home date?” Nino chokes on the words, clutching the front of his shirt near his heart. “Jun is as straightforward as ever! It hurts!”

Jun blinks at Nino’s accusation, which then sends Nino bursting, shyly this time, with steam in mere seconds.

“Stop being so star-struck over Jun-kun, Nino!” Mao teases, ribbing him lightly when he sees steam bursting from under Nino’s yellow star headpiece.

"I'm a star goddammit! I can be star-struck all I want. In fact, I can strike whatever I wish." Nino argues his point. “And I’m only keeping you around until I can get a team ready. So be nice, will you?”

Mao giggles softly before she eventually stops when Nino keeps on glaring at her.

“Screwed logic,” Sho says, rolling his eyes and pointedly ignoring Nino’s comment. “Aren’t we supposed to be going somewhere else? As part of our date today?” Sho turns to Jun, ignoring the low squeak he hears from Nino’s direction when he puts an emphasis on the word ‘date’.

“Yes. We’re going to sit by the riverbank and watch the afternoon stream.” Jun answers with a flinch and grabs Sho’s hand, clasps it tightly, and starts pulling him away.

Sho doesn’t even protest, staggering only a bit to keep up. “Let’s go then! See you guys later,” he says a bit too loudly as he throws a smirk over his shoulder to see Nino with a bit steam rising off the sharp point of his star mask. The man stays in place, gripping his bike handle hard while Mao waves them off warmly.

Sho tries to wave back out of courtesy; she doesn’t mean any harm, after all. It was all that yellow guy’s doing.

*

They have just finished talking about Sho’s lesson plan for the next day and he is still confused: his class hasn’t been going well and now he isn’t sure that he should have taken the offer to be teacher all around, but Jun’s suggestion is surprising. “That’s scandalously impossible!”

Jun is about to flick his hair off his jersey when a deep voice comes from their left. “What is scandalously impossible?”

“Ah, Chief!” Jun beams with pleasure at seeing Shun. He shifts to now perch in a curious squat next to Sho. Jun pats the grassy space beside him to beckon him while Sho sputters with mild surprise and sighs.

It shouldn’t surprise him anymore—and it really takes a lot to be able to do such. At first, he can’t bring down his embarrassingly uncontrolled high-pitched screech when Shun materializes stealthily and ends up breathing down his neck.

Kappa or not, no one should just appear and disturb other people. Kappa or not—especially _not_ kappa.

Zipped up perfectly this time, Shun takes his seat a little bit closer to Jun and repeats his question, with his green face looming next to them, in a whisper. “What’s scandalous impossible? Breathing under water?”

“Breathing under water is not impossible,” Jun simply says.

Even as he rolls his eyes, Sho doesn’t say anything. He has learned by now to not throw a fit at Jun’s answer.

Venusian—the recurring fact that he still doesn’t believe because how could one, but has discovered to be one of Jun’s main excuses and reasons for many of his eccentricities—or not Venusian, he is not going to waste his breath trying to disapprove it again. Not after the long fight he had with Jun that ended with a foul taste in his mouth after he went off with his temper and threw some harsh words at Jun one day.

Shun leans, wiggling his eyebrows merrily. “But something else is?”

“I was telling Sho about the trade challenge we do here,” Jun says to Shun, breaking the silence more likely to let the debate continue and diverting the topic.

Producing another cucumber from a pocket in his costume, Shun begins to munch, completely distracted now. “Ah, yes, trade, yes. And challenge. That’s so much fun.”

“And I was telling him that it’s impossible,” Sho adds. “Nothing comes free in this world. Everything has a price. Plus it might be just a silly challenge.”

“Well, that’s not incorrect.”

Sho rolls his eyes at Shun’s airy answer. “It’s definite. There’s always a price for everything, and the price comes in money. You need to have money if you are going to get what you want. That’s how it works now, and that’s how it will always work.”

“Sho.” Shun finishes his cucumber, shoving Sho lightly on the shoulder and creating a wet patch on his expensive shirt. “You are such a cute fellow.”

Jun still watches them as silence follows.

“I’ll take that as a compliment then,” Sho replies dryly before getting back to the topic at hand. “I’m still correct otherwise. Everything has a price.”

“I wasn’t saying that’s wrong by definition.” Finished with his simple lunch, Shun busies himself by playing with the tall grass. “But you don’t always need money to get what you want.”

Sho snorts, before breaking into a loud laugh.

“Chief is telling the truth,” Jun says, finally speaking up as he watches with interest as Sho rolls over in an exaggerated laugh.

“No way that’s true.” Sho hiccups a few last giggles as he sits up straight again. “No way.”

“You are such a cute fellow,” is Shun’s only response.

Ignoring the half-assed repeated response, Sho begins, “That’s madness. Where on earth can you survive without money? You won’t have good food or good clothes or a roof over your head.”

“Mhmm.” Shun pauses for a long time, sliding his gaze toward Jun who gives a blank yet supportive stare back. “Here?”

*

“It as simple as a trade. First, you need something to get you on the road.”

“Trade? I excel in trade. Back when I was still in elementary school we had a simulated presentation about the New York stock exchange. Mind you, my education was flawless. I didn’t attend commoner schools. And I bet you weren’t privy to the fact that it was the Sakurai Corporation that implemented various exchange corporation system adjustments throughout the—“

Shun stops him with a flick of his hand. “I was referring to a much simpler trade.”

“But no matter how you see it, a trade is a trade.”

“Of course, a trade is just a trade but it’s not a diluted trade like the one you rambled on about just now?”

“We’re not going for a stock exchange trade, I suppose.”

“Correct!”

“Another kind of trade?”

“I’ll give you a hint. It’s not only much simpler but also much more satisfying,” Shun pauses dramatically before adding. “Happiness.”

Sho laughs before adding with a mocking tone, “Happiness is more satisfying than a stock exchange trade? I’m so excited.”

“You are such a cute fellow.”

“Would you stop that? It’s beginning to get annoying.” Sho slaps Shun’s arm, his hand meeting damp wetsuit, and flinches with regret over his action. “So?”

Jun nods. “So!”

Sho considers his options; it has started innocently enough. He’s no stranger to trade and business. It would have been easy to explain how it works to Jun if he has to. Or he also could explain it in his class next week. There wouldn’t be a problem there. But now with Shun annoyingly on his side starting to talk big about trade, Sho is somehow even more determined to prove them wrong. It’ll serve as a point for him; perhaps one step closer to get the man to admit about the costume—no matter how far reaching that goal is at the moment.

“Okay, I’m listening,” he says, “but there must be a reward at the end. Shall I agree to this, I demand that you take off that costume by the end of the second month if this happiness bullshit doesn’t work.”

“As I keep on saying and you keep on failing to understand, this is not a costume,” Shun says, rubbing the front of his costume. “Pick this up, for starters.” He grabs a handful of tall grass, pulling it up and laying it on the ground. “Start with this.”

“No. I would be indebted to you if I take something from you.”

“Stubborn, but not very cute.” Shun lays them on the ground. “There, it’s no one’s now.”

Sho considers and relents. It’s a stupid game, but he won’t back down from an open challenge.

“You’re getting out of that costume by the end of the second month!”

“That’d be a stretch, but.” Shun smirks with confidence. “Who knows at the end? This is a crazy world we’re living in!”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Sho.” Shun smacks him on the back before he abruptly stands up and shouts with peace signs on both hands raised high. “Fare forth!”

“Huh?”

“Fare forth!” Jun joins in, rising to his feet and waving his peace signs.

Shun smiles. “And in exchange, I expect you to favor us if you lose.”

“Favor you?” Sho asks but Shun has already bolted toward the river with Jun on his heels. They jump their way into the river, impressively in Jun’s case with a somersault and with no great shakes in Shun’s case as he does a normal swimming start pose.

Sho gets to his feet to follow them, just to make sure that everything’s okay, only to find bubbles of air on the river’s surface mocking him for being left alone.

“Jun!” Sho calls desperately before sighing in defeat. “And just like that you forgot that we were on a date.”

 

**A horsefly: or what seems calm before the storm**

A few days later, Sho has almost forgotten about the grass, if it wasn’t for Jun tying the bundle onto his briefcase. At first, he wasn’t going to go around carrying his briefcase, especially here in Arakawa, but it is nice to have a reminder that he’s still going through his days with something from his old life in the saner part of Earth.

Every morning, a far corner of his mind tells him that it’s going to be a good day, a routine he had back during his office workdays. And every night, the thought has been well forgotten when he comes back to his tent all tired, realizing the day has gone with unexpected turns and twists, completely throwing his original elaborate work schedule off.

However, if there’s one thing he enjoys, it’s teaching. He once thought to thank Shun for suggesting the teaching job for him, considering that he can’t really bring himself to be useful for the people under the bridge. Although the choice was either teaching the Iron twins who were mostly concerned with doing fun experimental things instead of being given math problems or helping out Becky on her farm. It was an easy choice to make.

*

Aiba comes to his class one afternoon, letting him know that they will be welcoming a new guy in Arakawa. His height still brings intimidating pressure as Aiba towers over him; the black nun robe doesn’t help at all in giving the peaceful and comforting vibe it’s supposed to. The man gives Sho a few vague details about Yoko, a friend from his childhood who’s coming from a place called Eito-city in the year 2035.

Sho has to take a moment to process the information before he can pose a comment. “Aiba, it’s 2013.”

“I know that.”

“And you were saying 2035, what the—“

“I know what I said.” Aiba cuts him off without giving him any more explanation and with a stern look that prevents Sho from prodding more into the matter.

“Okay, so he’s from 2035,” Sho says as he tries to shake off the doubt. If he is getting used to be around a Kappa and beautiful Venusian, he supposes another one, one from the future, won’t hurt. “Is there anything else I need to know then?”

Stepping forward from behind the blackboard and making his presence known, Shun answers. “Aiba told me that he has issues.”

“Issues?” With his expression changing from surprise to a frown in confusion, Sho turns to Shun. “What kind of issues?”

“You’ll see.”

“I’ll see? Why do I have to see it myself?” Sho turns his plea toward Shun who only gives him a raised eyebrow, and Aiba refuses to give any more, blank expression all over his serious face. Sighing tiredly, he growls in frustration. “Fine. Vague it is then.”

“He said it’s fine.” Shun smiles slyly at Aiba, who gives him a short nod of appreciation for coming and helping him. “Our time here is done.”

“Thank you, Chief. It all went smoothly because of you.”

Completely ignored, Sho resigns with a pout.

“Don’t mention it,” Shun says, smacking Aiba’s back in a friendly gesture. “We all need to do what we all need to do.”

“What kind of saying is that?” Sho rolls his eyes, his leather shoes kicking some dirt on the ground as he mutters darkly.

“We’ll get going then, Sho!” Shun waves before he steps back, rounding the blackboard and disappearing.

He has left them alone again in the class. They stare at each other before Aiba decides that he has said enough. He steps forward and smacks Sho on the back, sending him staggering forward.

“Thank you,” Aiba softly mutters, automatically receiving a nod from Sho. “I need to go now. Rebecca is expecting me at the farm.”

As Aiba turns to leave, Sho can swear that he sees a hint of flush rising on Aiba’s cheek. He ponders for a while as he follows Aiba’s figure walking away, but at the end he shrugs the thought out of his mind. For now.

*

Yoko comes to class the next morning, all prim and proper, as eager as a kid on his first day in school. He comes almost at the same time as Sho does, which means 20 minutes before the actual starting time. He asks Sho whether he can choose his chair, and Sho allows him to do as he pleases and assures him that his classmates won’t mind much.

However, it doesn’t take much to burst his bubble of excitement. When Sho announces the start of class after the arrival of the Iron twins, Yoko raises his hand high in the air, seeking Sho’s attention.

“We haven’t started yet but you already have a question? What is it, Yoko?”

Yoko makes a show of clearing his throat before speaking in a deep tone. “I was just wondering if the others are absent today.”

“The others?”

“Well, the others?” Yoko spreads his arms wide, indicating the space of what he considers an empty classroom.

“We are not waiting for any others,” Sho says. “Except if Jun later decides to come to class, then we have him with us. Most of the time it’s just the three of us here. And now it’s four, including you.”

“Four?” Yoko stands in disbelief and starts to shout. “Four doesn’t add up to a class. It’s too small! Seven people is the smallest number one class should have!”

“Sho-san,” Iron Twin One says, “I don’t like this loud guy.”

“Me too, Sho-san.” Iron Two takes the same stance as his brother as they both throw glares toward Yoko.

Yoko only shouts louder. “I don’t like you metal head punks, either! Guess now we’re even, huh?”

Scooting close together the twins hold each other’s hands in shock before they run behind Sho for cover.

“What is this attitude?” A bit surprised himself by the turn of events, Sho waves frantically to mollify Yoko. “This is a classroom, and we all need to calm ourselves down.”

Yoko growls and the twins clutch harder at the back pockets of Sho’s trousers.

“You two, stop cowering behind my butt, and no groping. And you,” Sho says, “you step back. These two are just kids. You need to act your age.”

A black light flashes in Yoko’s eyes a bit before he sticks his tongue out.

“Oh, that’s just mature, Yoko.”

The next day isn’t any better. Yoko still has a kick scaring the Iron twins and runs around chasing them, screaming with growling noises and glinting eyes. Sho could barely deliver his lesson since morning. He finally resigns himself to sitting on his small teacher’s stall and watching the other three go round and round. They will get tired sooner than later; he’s just going to bide his time and wait.

Near midday, Jun walks into class amidst the chase that still hasn’t subdued, wet hair clinging to his back, and goes straight to Sho’s chair, swerving swiftly when a thick book flies over his head.

“Jun,” Sho says, grateful that at least someone who’s not going to make a good mess out of his classroom and schedule is around.

“Good morning.” That is all Jun says before he bends down, pulling Sho’s tie toward him, and kisses him full on the mouth.

Sho’s eyes flutters shut; he feels his tie pulled tighter, nudging him closer to the scent of lavender, so familiar now, and letting Jun lead the kiss. He hears nothing since he can only feel the rushing blood on his ears and not the catcalls and shock gasps around him.

It lasts for a little longer before Jun pulls back and Sho opens his eyes to meet Jun’s bright eyes shimmering. “Good morning.”

“What was that?” Sho is grateful that he was sitting down because he doesn’t think his jelly legs could support him if he were standing.

“A kiss is a way of greeting one’s lover,” Jun says. “It’s what it said in the new edition.”

Yoko is partially covering his eyes with his hand, and Sho can see a flush rising on his face. He chuckles at that; he isn’t the only one with burning cheeks, and somehow it’s not entirely embarrassing. “You’ve been reading another magazine,” he says, more a statement than a question because he knows the answer even before Jun nods from his front corner seat.

The twins are still clapping their hands gleefully. Sho gestures them to their seat and they comply. The morning commotion is simply forgotten. Even Yoko now heads to the chair he was sitting in the day before, behind Jun.

Silence hangs in the air comfortably before Sho realizes that it is his chance to start his lesson. But just to be sure, he needs confirmation. “So, now I can start my lesson?”

“Yes, Sho-san.” The Iron twins already have their pencils and notebooks ready.

Yoko shrugs but doesn’t object further.

Sho considers today a small victory over Yoko with a quirk of a smile—and a larger one over Jun with an internal summersault.

In the afternoon Aiba comes over to pick Yoko up after class, mentiong something about going to town to get some things to help Yoko get settled in Arakawa. Yoko has been excited since midday and demands that Sho end the class early. When Sho reminds him that no matter what time the class ends, Aiba would only come at the end of the class, Yoko finally resigns.

Yoko is overjoyed to see Aiba when he comes and can’t wait for them to get going. Aiba tells him to wait and Yoko nods immediately, much to Sho’s disappointment. He never sees Yoko behaving as in class as well as he does with Aiba.

Aiba pulls him aside to talk about Yoko’s lessons and how he is catching up with the class so far. And even as he explains that Yoko is doing just fine even if he might need to time to fully adjust to the class, he can catch Yoko and Jun’s conversation behind him.

“Isn’t he cool? He is, right? He is very cool. And very nice. He buys me stuff, takes me golfing and treats me to fancy dinners.”

“Yoko, you’re drooling,” Sho hears Jun point out. He then reconsiders today as a larger victory over Yoko; he’s adorable in a way. In a destructive way, sadly, but adorable nonetheless.

*

This peaceful—since Yoko isn’t around—morning, it’s a normal class with Jun joining them early.

Sho suspects the fact that Jun is around adds another point toward Nino’s internal struggle as he pouts harder as he loiters along the far side of the class. Pausing once in a while, glancing at him directly with something resembling curiosity, Nino looks like he is waiting for an invitation and Sho is now curious.

“Nino,” he calls. “Will you please stop looming in and out sneakily like that? You can join us if you want.”

One of the twin turns and waves at him. “Nino-san, come join us.” They slide on their long chairs, giving some space for Nino to sit between them. “Yeah. Here, here.”

“Hello, Jun, I didn’t see you here.”

Even though he can hear Nino’s overly sweet tone greeting Jun behind his back, Sho faces the blackboard to write another equation, and when he turns around, Nino is already seated next to Jun, pressed to his side to be exact, while the latter is in the middle of drawing some abstract pictures instead of doing the written equation.

“Hello to you too, Nino.”

Sho continues to work on his lesson plan for today a while. Nino stays close to Jun even if the latter doesn’t seem to pay attention to anything other than his drawing book. And Sho lets him be, and soon he supposes Nino will let his intention of stopping over be known. It doesn’t stop him from glancing once in a while in Jun’s direction, just to make sure Nino doesn’t attach himself too close.

“What do you want, Nino?” Sho asks him when they’ve already wrapped up the lesson. The twins have gone running to the river, leaving them alone, and it’s about time; Nino has stayed the whole time, and Sho knows that he must want something.

“I want nothing.” Nino eyes dart to the dried straw grass Sho has on his briefcase. “But maybe Oh-chan could use that bundle of dry straw grass.”

That surprises Sho. “Oh?”

“I’m just saying that because I heard you’re trading straw grass.”

“How did you know that?”

“Chief told us about it. Then he pleads with us that he believes one of us must need straw grass and need to trade whatever we can spare with you before he lost his bet.

“He even shudders visibly at the thought of losing to a new guy like you. It’s been more than a week and you’ve done nothing. I was thinking of helping him a bit. An evil person like you doesn’t deserve to win.”

Sho rolls his eyes at the last statement, yet he appreciates the reminder that it was a bet, that he can actually win the bet if there’s no one around to trade with him. He only has the grass now--no one will want that, or if he’s lucky it doesn’t have any value in the first place.

“Jun, can you take me to Ohno’s place?”

And before Jun can say anything him, Nino answers. “I could. Let’s go together then.”

Frowning, Sho can’t help but get suspicious, but he nods and gestures for Nino to lead the way anyway.

They walk downstream for a while before a small hut comes into view. Sho is a little taken aback when Jun unexpectedly runs toward the hut at the same time the door opens and a man carrying a long sword appears from the door. “Ohno!”

Sho watches the man smile to greet Jun and then greets both of them with a small bow. He bows in return. At least there’s someone here in Arakawa that knows manners, although the sword is rather worrying.

“Do you guys all need a haircut?” Ohno looks at him, and Sho’s gaze once again darts back to the long sword. Out of its sheath, it glimmers brilliantly and appears to be extremely sharp in Ohno’s hand; he shakes his head.

“We’re not here for a haircut, Oh-chan,” Nino says. “I brought Sho here for important business.”

Jun has different thoughts though. “I think I’ll have that haircut, Ohno.”

“Important business that can wait until you give Jun a haircut, though,” Nino quickly revises his statement. “Just take your time with him.”

Sho snorts loudly at Nino’s low tactic even when Ohno chuckles before he proceeds to gently gesture at Jun to take a seat on a stool. Nino elbows Sho’s side, but he’s too distracted to see Ohno agilely setting Jun up under a pale blue cape.

Ohno sets a stance, to pause and confirm with Jun. “Should I get it short this time?”

“Ah, not yet,” Jun says, “I still like these hair extensions.”

Sho darts a sharp, questioning gaze toward Nino, but the yellow man is too busy staring at Jun and Ohno with glazed eyes.

“Please let me keep it a while.” Jun closes his eyes and straightens his back, getting ready.

“Okay.” Ohno’s soft tone contrasts with the firm stance he once again settles with. “I’m just going to trim the split ends then.”

Sho can only see glints of swords moving around the tips of Jun’s hair, strands of them twirling violently, floating in a blast of air.

The next minute, the waves stop, and Jun’s hair is back in place while Ohno bows slightly to Jun’s back, pulling the cape off with finesse. “Thank you for coming today.”

Jun opens his eyes slowly, hand immediately reaching for his shoulder, before he turns and beams his thank you at Ohno. And Sho is in full awe at the whole happening, in the middle of trying to blink his mind back when Nino starts a round of applause and ruins the moment completely.

Ohno startles a bit before he remembers he has an audience. Turning his complete focus on Nino, he finally acknowledges Nino and Sho. “You said you have important business?”

*

It turns out that Ohno is willing to take the bundle of dry grass that Sho has offered. Jun and Nino have left him alone with Ohno, partially because Nino says that it’s his business and he should deal with it himself.

“So because I agree to take your bundle, in return, let’s see,” Ohno says. He abruptly stands up to go inside his hut before coming out carrying a small long box and holding it out to him.

“What’s this?” Sho slowly opens the box, finding a sheath and wrapped around it a pair of scissor-like instruments. “Is this a pair of shears?”

“Whatever. But I don’t need it,” Ohno says. “It was a mistake to receive that. I can’t cut hair with scissors, after all. I’ll use my sword instead.”

“This is a pair of blade shears, _not_ scissors.” Sho examines it. “You can’t cut people’s hair with it. It’s dangerous. Although you’re using a sword, so I don’t know if ‘dangerous’ is the right word.”

“You can have it.”

“But this must have cost you a lot.”

“Not exactly. I got it as a gift. Or at least I was told that it was a gift.”

Confused, Sho asks again. “Someone gave you shears? As a gift? What were they thinking? Do they know that you cut people’s hair? That it’s dangerous to play with this, although you are using sword. I keep on forgetting that.”

Ohno holds a small smile for a while before he answers. “It was from Becky.”

*

Sho has bad feelings about all this trade all of a sudden. He makes his way to the riverside right after and starts shouting the moment the hint of a green wetsuit comes into his view. “Chief! I certainly didn’t sign up for all this madness.”

Shun is lounging next to him on the ground, with a suspiciously relaxed pose. Sho suspects that he most probably is just there to dry his wetsuit before he goes back to the river to go play with water for the rest of the hot afternoon. Then again he doesn’t have a choice. If he needs to vent, at least Shun should get a piece of his mind. He is the one who dragged him into the whole mess in the first place.

“But a trade is a trade. Just like a deal is a deal,” Shun replies easily. “You wouldn’t want to back out of the deal, would you?”

Sho sighs; there’s nothing he can do now that Shun has put it that way. Backing out is of course not an option, but pulling through is not as easy as it sounds. “What a nosy kappa!”

“Finally!” Shun smiles widely at the scolding. “I’m a kappa! A nosy one at that, but who cares? Sho, you finally get it!”

“I still don’t,” Sho says, cutting him off. “Can we please continue to talk about what we were talking about just now?”

“You don’t have to use such complicated sentences. It gives me a headache. Doesn’t it give you headache?”

“Unlike you, I am not talking gibberish.”

“Hello there, Chief.” A voice comes not far from where they are, and they both freeze. “And Sho, is that you?”

Speaks of the devil, or to be more precise, the source of Sho’s uneasy feeling. “I was passing by, and I can see you can relax just fine with your teaching job, Sho. You know, if you feel you’re lacking some manly activities, there’s always a job for you on my farm.”

There’s something in the way Becky talks that has been sending shivers down his spine since day one. Sho gives a short nod and waits until he can see Becky is out of earshot. “Oh, that was scary. I don’t know why, but don’t you think she’s scary?”

Sho turns to find the spot next to him already empty. He jumps up, turning around only to find the tip of a green head floating toward the middle of the river.

“Green clammy coward!”

A hand pops out, giving a victory sign, as the kappa continues floating to the center. Perhaps he needs to learn to move that quickly, Sho muses while he sits back, trying to calm himself before going back home.

 

**Three oranges might not be worth a pound of cucumber**

A few days later Ohno invites Sho over for tea, showing off how he has already turned the grass into an intricate tea whisk. He then entertains Sho with not-so-bitter _senburi_ tea

After some chitchat, even though he had been thinking of sharing his story about Becky the other day, he finds himself listening to Ohno the most; his story focuses on repeated statements. “Toma has nice arms. Have you seen his? Lately he’s been busy but, his arms. Arms.”

Sho makes a note to take a good look at Toma’s arms later and finishes his tea because it grows bitter when it cools off.

“—and he is a very nice guy.”

He can’t help to ask; nice isn’t always best, but then again he can't say much considering his own situation with Jun. “So you decided that you like him because he’s a nice guy?”

“Isn’t that what everyone does all the time?” Ohno answer is light but sure and final. “To like someone because he’s nice, and warm, and shining, and just beautiful.”

“So you’ve told him exactly that?”

Ohno ducks away shyly, and faintly Sho can catch a murmur. “Countless. But what can I say? He’s in love with another guy.” He continues to whisk the remaining tea in the bowl, leaving the silence hanging and their teacups empty.

.

The class was supposed to finish their afternoon lesson but Yoko and the Iron twins are already nowhere to be seen—something that has been recurring lately, with Yoko and the twins striking what Sho supposes is a good deal. Now they can be friends and fight each other; kids nowadays.

Because Jun had said that he was going to be absent from class today, Sho is already getting ready to call it a day. Since it’s rare to have the afternoon off, he can probably catch up on his corporation job; he’s abandoned it for too long and he’d better deal with it before his phone starts ringing.

It does surprise him to catch a man figure in the far corner of the class, holding a clear umbrella over his head although it is a sunny afternoon.

“Hello,” he says.

“Hello. If you’re here for class, it’s over already. Perhaps tomorrow, if you’re interested? Or is there something I can help you with?”

“You’re Sho. I’m Toma. We met at your welcome party, but we’ve never really talked.”

Sho nods at the hurried introduction.

“And you’re the teacher here.”

“That’s right. What’s wrong?”

Toma sighs heavily, slowly lowering his umbrella. He fixes his gaze hard at Sho and bows deeply. Sho has already taken a few steps closer when Toma finally says something. “You, since you’re a teacher, you should teach me how to love, or how to deal with one-sided love. Whichever works faster is fine. Please.”

With a look of horror, Sho takes a step back. He watches Toma raise his head, his eyes is a bit watery; has he been crying? “What? Why?”

“It is your job to provide lessons, correct?” Toma waits until Sho nods again. “So you should provide lessons of love for me!”

“Excuse me?”

“And you better make it quick. I’m meeting him in an hour.”

“Him?”

*

Sho finds himself sitting by the riverside. Toma has a picnic basket ready, stashed near the blanket he had prepared beforehand.

“He says he’ll be around at this hour.” Toma looks around excitedly, setting his big bag on his side to sit hugging his knees, staring at the river in worrying silence.

For now, all Sho can think about is how he’s hoping for Jun to come out of the nowhere just to be there with them and make things less awkward. Or even Nino, or even Aiba—if he’d just left, shoot some bullets into the air so they all can go home. Anyone as long as he’s not alone with Toma and, more so, waiting for Shun.

“Jun’s mentioned you,” Toma says once they settle into comfort, with umbrella and the like. “A lot, actually, the other day, so I was thinking of getting lessons from you.”

“I teach basic physics and elementary grade kanji. Not love,” Sho corrects him. It’s beginning to worry him since there’s something in Toma’s eyes that says he isn’t fooling around like the rest of the people here. “No one can teach love anyway.”

“But they do in those magazines.”

“You’ve been reading the magazines Jun has?”

“Well, he said that if it is useful he’ll let me read anything he has. I haven’t gone through everything, but I do find some useful tips.”

It’s more like an impromptu daytime picnic by the river, Sho wants to answer, but he only nods in agreement.

They falls into silence again and Sho scrambles for some topics, preferably something that doesn’t involve Jun’s magazines—nothing good will come out of that. He points to the basket next to them. “What do you have there then?”

“Uhm, lunch and stuff,” Toma says. He reaches out to put the basket between them and Sho is a bit relieved; they can now talk about whatever is in the basket for a while.

“I have all these ready for snacking,” Toma continues, taking out container after container and stacking them outside of the basket. When he sets the basket aside, Sho can see that all of them are filled with cucumber slices.

“Are these all cucumber?”

“Yup.” With a smile now on his face, Toma turns back with another plastic container of more cucumbers. “You know, I have been working on these for a long time; I cross-breed these.”

“All these?”

Unmoved by Sho’s amazement, Toma goes on with his explanation. “Well, it didn’t work well at first. I just kept on trying and trying. They all need the lives they deserve.”

“These cucumbers? I didn’t know you can grow cucumber here by the riverside.”

“Of course you can. Well, you do need to have love and determination but once you get them, it’s manageable.” Toma brightens up at the explanation. “It’s all about handling them with care and loads of love.”

Sho is reduced to nothing but a polite nod as Toma continues to introduce the names of cucumber varieties he has been working with and then more information that Sho simply can’t keep up with.

“And this cucumber is special,” Toma says, reaching into the plastic and holding an ugly looking green cucumber. “I know they might have an unappealing shape at this point, but once you cut them into slices—“ he puts a slice on his hands and shows it to Sho, “—it’s all love.”

On Toma’s hand is a thin slice of cucumber, in the shape of a heart; the white watery flesh looks fresh with the ridged carving of its green skin giving the impression of a sparkling heart.

“You do come prepared.”

“I’m serious about this after all.”

After talking, they fall into a more comfortable silence. Toma allows Sho to try a few of the slices. Even if it seems to Sho that they’re sitting there by the riverside, waiting for something that doesn’t feel like coming, Toma’s company is quite nice. He isn’t as talkative and hostile to a point like Nino or Aiba, but he isn’t as distant as Jun sometimes.

They finish a container of sliced cucumber. On one hand Sho is getting sick of the watery taste already, and on the other hand, Toma is getting gloomier. Sho guesses that Shun won’t show up in the end, although he keeps the guess to himself as he senses Toma growing restless by the minute.

*

A low scream of “Sho” is the last thing he hears before he is engulfed in a ball of jersey and swept up in the scent of lavender. He squeaks as he loses his balance and rolls over on the ground, tangled with one beaming Jun. “You’re heavy,” Sho says, feeling Jun’s breath on his ear and a familiar smell. “And drunk.”

“Sho,” Jun speaks softly in his ear, his grip tight around Sho. “I’m just a bit drunk, but how about about another date?”

“Are you going to run into the river and leave me again?”

“Are you still mad about that?”

“I am not.” Sho fails to hide his pout. “I never was.”

A small cough comes from around them and Sho realizes that they are not alone. He shrugs himself out of Jun’s grip, failing on the first try before he tries harder and managed to shake himself away, sending Jun rolling to the other side of the blanket. He looks up to find Toma watching them with an amused look.

“I didn’t know you two were so disgusting.”

Sho flushes at the comment but before he can respond, Jun rolls back from the ground.

“Hello, Toma,” he says, “you haven’t seen anything yet. Need more demonstration?”

“Cut it out,” Sho elbows him in the side, effectively shutting him up. “You definitely read too many magazines. And so does he.”

“What’s up? Picnic?” Jun looks around to find the containers, now realizing that they’re sitting on a blanket.

“I am accompanying Toma as he waits for Chief. He says that he’s going to be on the riverside around this hour.” Sho helpfully tries to explain the situation to Jun, hoping that Jun will come up with something that will allow him to go home instead of just sitting here by the riverside.

“Chief?”

“Oh. You know where he is?”

“I do.”

“Where?” This time both Toma and Sho are asking the same question.

“He’s in town. I was with him not long ago.”

“You were?”

“We were going for a drink together but I changed my mind after the third glass so I come back here instead. He’d probably still at the same bar now before he starts hopping around to different ones after dark.”

“Bar hopping? And you’ve been drinking already? It’s barely past 3 in the aftern—,” Sho says, stopping short when Toma rises abruptly. “What? Toma, what is it?”

“So he still goes out drinking even without me!”

Sho is confused at first before he realizes that Toma was addressing Jun and has already gathered his containers, pulling the blanket off and uprooting him and Jun without warning.

“You know he still does, Toma,” Jun says.

Hauling his bag, with the blanket draped on his shoulder sloppily, Toma huffs out his teary rage at them. “I know he still does, but hearing it from you isn’t making it better. And after he said he’s going to be here and I’ve been waiting.”

Toma breaks into a run the next moment, leaving Sho completely stunned and Jun sighing with frustration.

“I told him to read the magazine but apparently he didn’t do that properly,” Jun says. “And Chief isn’t any better.”

“What the heck was that?”

“Toma loves Chief but Chief doesn’t share the same feelings.”

“Ah, that’s why he plants such a variety of cucumbers. Kappas like cucumber, right?”

“And you just realized that now?”

“Well, I had made the same conclusion but not to that extreme,” Sho says. “But more importantly, you were out drinking at this hour? With Chief?”

“You shouldn't be jealous. Chief and I go back a long way,” Jun says. “Toma used to be there with us. Well Mao-chan too, but she said going drinking with us made her miss her family even more so she stopped joining us. We even have a team name, Team All Night Drinking.”

“What is it with team names here in Arakawa?” Sho says, remembering that Nino was equally as passionate about having a team.

Jun ignores him. “We go drinking from time to time and have our own rule. We take turns carrying each other home if any of us get too drunk to walk back.

“But one day, Toma was so drunk he confessed he loves Chief using a megaphone in front of a karaoke box. He was arrested for causing neighborhood disturbance afterward. I guess that’s when Chief stopped inviting him.”

“That damn kappa,” is the only heartfelt response Sho can come up with afterward.

*

Out of guilt, and because, Sho has to admit, Jun’s nudging him to take responsibility of his action, which is technically Jun’s action but he takes responsibility all the same, he spends the next few days helping out Toma on his vegetable field.

The guy turns out to be cheerful and nice, when he’s not bawling his eyes out over Shun like the other day. On the other hand, Sho also slowly understands the reason Ohno likes the guy.

Now that he’s no longer wishing for a companion, Ohno and Nino keep on appearing near the vegetable field, obviously stalking him like pros. Whenever Sho catches the sight of them hiding in the tall bushes, peering at him and murmuring to each other, they only giggle together even more. Sho can only imagine that Nino must have been a bad influence on Ohno, even if Toma doesn’t seem to mind the antics.

One afternoon Sho can’t stand it anymore. They have been sipping what appears to be cold orange juice under the shade of a tree while he only has a cucumber sandwich for lunch while working the field with Jun. “Why don’t you guys make yourselves useful and help out if you’re here all the time?”

Sho gets no response other than them scrambling even further down in a useless attempt to hide themselves.

But the next day, Ohno seems to have a change of heart when he comes over shy and all, walking past Sho and Jun and going straight to Toma.

“Can I help too?”

Sho notices that Ohno’s line of sight goes straight to Toma’s bare arms. The day before Toma was wearing long sleeves but today it’s a gracious no-sleeve tight tank; it doesn’t take much apparently.

Toma smiles at him. “Sure. Thank you, Oh-chan.”

Nino still lurks over the side of the field, and Sho can hear him moan in defeat when Ohno flushes at Toma’s answer.

Not long after, Sho can hear him finally approaching.

“Guys. Can I just play some music so I can help everyone mellow down and feel even more terrible about themselves?”

When Toma and Jun nod in agreement, Sho doesn’t care anymore. “Sure, why not.“

*

Toma later shows great interest when he spots the pair of shears Sho has tied on his suitcase. When they’re heaving bags of cucumber inside the house, he tells Sho about it. “I’ve been wanting one of those! These are expensive.”

“It’s a part of the trade I’m doing right now,” Sho says, catching a clueless expression from Toma. “You didn’t know? Nino says everyone knows about it by now.”

“I only heard about a bundle of dry grass, but not a pair of shears.”

“If you want it, you can take it. It’s totally okay. You’ll find better use for it anyway, even if these are blade shears, not pruning shears,. But I guess technically they are the same?”

“They are.” Toma smiles at him. “And that means that I need to give you something as part of the trade?”

“Anything is fine,” Sho says, and he surprises himself when he means what he’s just said.

*

During dinner hour that night, Toma visits Sho in his tent with few bags. He lays out the contents on the table and begins his explanation. “I have four of these babies, four different varieties of cucumbers; and then these oranges. You can have whichever you want, as my part of the trade we did this afternoon.”

“Then, I’ll have the oranges.”

“Why not the cucumbers? These are delicious. I took great care of them and they all are light, watery and sweet!”

“I’m sure they are,” Sho says, calming him down. “But I’d rather have the oranges, and you said that I could choose.”

“Well, any of the other four actually.”

“But you’re saving them for Chief, aren’t you?”

Toma nods softly.

“Then, it’d be a waste of cucumber to give them to me, don’t you think?” Sho reasons.

Toma stands still for a while before nodding. Sho releases a relieved sigh at the sight; he really doesn’t have time for another breakdown.

“Ah, that’s why you plant so varieties of cucumbers. Kappas like them, right?”

“You just realized that now?” Toma smiles dreamily.

“But how about Ohno?”

“Ohno?” Toma frowns before shrugging. “Ah, is it about those love declarations? I’ve told him countless times that I don’t consider him more than just a friend.”

 

**silk cloth: when the sub-title doesn’t even relate**

When Sho steps out to walk Toma out of the door, he finds Ohno and Nino standing side by side, the first with a sad hunch while the other with his hands folded on his chest, sending Sho a condemning stare.

He waves Toma off before turning back to the two. He doesn’t need to ask more because apparently Nino and Ohno had overheard the talk.

Ohno stands still in front of him, shoulders sagging, and if Sho listens closely he’s sure that he can hear a muffled sob. Ohno doesn’t cry but the look of sadness in his eyes is enough of a sign already.

“Traitor.”

Nino pats him in the head—and (evidently) ass, “There, there. That Sho guy is a meanie indeed.”

“Don’t hate me, hate the game. And meanie is such a mean word.”

“Which serves its purpose entirely then.” Steam begins to materialize from the tip of Nino’s mask. Ohno helpfully points that out to him before Nino fumes further. “It’s okay, Oh-chan, I’m fuming, literally. That’s all.”

“That’s not calming at all.”

“Oh-chan, welcome to the team then.”

“What team?”

Sho groans.

“I’m going to call Mao-chan tonight and cancel our meeting tomorrow. We’re going to have drink tonight, Oh-chan. Ready yourself!”

Sho sees them walking away shoulder to shoulder into the night. It shouldn’t be a wrong thing to do morally; he trades the shears fair and square with Ohno. And now they’re his to be exploited. He can do anything he likes with them, including giving them to Toma as a present.

But now that Toma has gone home, Sho finds himself worrying about Ohno. Sure, he knows that the man is angry at him, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Ohno should’ve given the shears to Toma long ago instead of giving it to him in the name of trade. This trade is once again biting him in the butt, he grumbles before he finally decides that he should go visit Ohno again for an apology.

.

Nino is lounging in the chair alone in front Ohno’s trailer when Sho gets there. Raising his eyebrow over the relaxed atmosphere he finds here—he was half-expecting Nino to assault him bodily shall they meet again—he greets Nino.

“Hello.”

“Look who’s here.” Nino welcomes him with loopy grin. Sho rolls his eyes at the sneer; the guy is dead-drunk already. That was fast considering he was together with Nino not as much as three hours before.

“Good evening, Nino,” he says. “I was looking for Ohno. Is he here?”

“He went inside to fetch our next bottle,” Nino says before unceremoniously letting out a loud hiccup. “As you can see, we are having a broken-hearted party here under the stars.”

“Are you now? I didn’t notice,” Sho replies dryly.

A loud crack comes from behind the trailer and it is not long until Ohno walks to the front. He stops short and pouts when he sees Sho. “What do you want, meanie?”

“I am not a meanie,” Sho says indignantly. “And, again, it’s such a mean word.”

Now that Ohno’s back, Nino seems to return to his angry phase again. “That was the intention, you crush thief!” he points at Sho with his empty glass. “Oh-chan, give me more of this delicious liquid! Let’s spend the night drenched in heartbreak and booze!”

The guy is not yet dead-drunk, Sho notes, he’s loud-drunk, the worst kind. He ignores Nino’s stream of curses and what sounds like a wailing melody and says what he intends to say. “Ohno, I’m here to apologize properly.”

Ohno just stands still, staring hard at Sho. After Nino runs out of words to say, he is still rooted to the spot, lower lip protruding in a sulky pout.

“Say something, Oh-chan.” Nino finally becomes fully aware of the silence when he sees that Sho’s gaze gets lower and lower.

Sho for once is not slow and he knows when his apology is being rejected. Still he waits, almost giving up when it seems like a long time but there’s still no response from Ohno.

“Fine,” Sho says finally, glancing over to Nino who’s now standing straight and is also waiting for Ohno to break the silence. “I’ll be taking my leave. Have a nice night.”

“Sho!”

Ohno’s sudden call startles him but it stops him from leaving.

“I accept your apology and have decided that we should settle this like men!” the man declares.

Nino is now chuckling as he leans back against his chair, letting out a drunken cheer. “You go, you!”

“Settle it like men?” Sho blinks confusedly as he processes what Ohno has just said; all of a sudden he feels swishy. He asks in small voice, “What do you mean? Sword fight? I can’t do a sword fight!”

“No, like men of Arakawa.” Ohno crooks a smile and suddenly Sho feels like he should be running for his life right now. Those gentle eyes disappear only to be replaced by a piercing gaze. “Here, we’ll bungee jump from the bridge.”

*

“Hello?”

It’s past working hours, not that Sho’s ever minded about the slot of time while working; when one corporation operates worldwide, he should be able to provide service at any cost, at any time. His phone hasn’t been ringing with the once familiar tone in a long while. He has made sure that he doesn’t slack on his normal workload even if he rarely makes appearances at the central office since he’s moved to Arakawa.

A familiar voice greets him on the other side of the line. “Sho-kun, good evening.”

“Is there any emergency?”

“No. Why would you think that?”

“It’s very late at night, and you’re calling out of the blue?”

“Should I text you a notice before I can call these days now, Sho-kun? It’s barely after midnight. I hope I haven’t caught you in the middle of anything important.“

Resisting a harsh bite out, Sho sighs. “I’m sorry, Kimura. It was a long day here and I forgot myself.”

“Here? Where’s here exactly?”

He knows that he has said something that is not entirely correct but he can’t help it.

“Somewhere I am staying right now.” Explanation will take a long time so Sho stops the conversation with a short answer before the topic gets out of control; it’s not an immediate concern to Kimura after all. “So if there isn’t an emergency, you were calling for something else?”

 

**Weak horse: the last forgotten triangle?**

A long “Ooh” is the only thing Yoko says before he runs toward Nino across the field and takes a wide jump before slamming the man into the ground.

Sho chuckles as he hears a small muffled “The hell!” from the pile of Yoko on Nino.

The baseball day has started nicely for him, considering that he pouted and whined all night to Jun about his lack of sports ability. Jun’s persuasion that everyone only does this for fun didn’t convince him a single bit, yet it is very nice to see Nino being on the receiving end of Yoko’s tomfoolery.

“Ah, very cute. Are you a real star?” Yoko starts to pinch Nino’s cheeks under the mask and grins mischievously upon the discovery. “I like your yellow mask.”

“Get off me, you freak!”

“You remind me of a friend. He is all yellow too.”

Nino lets out a deep, annoyed growl before he shoves Yoko off him with all his might. Yoko is left in the middle of the field as Nino runs toward the bench, finding Sho watching the whole thing with apparent amusement. “Good morning, Nino.”

Before Nino can reply, the sound of Yoko running toward him makes him shriek, and the next second Nino is running for his life. “Sho, make him stop!”

“I can’t do that. He’s free to do whatever he wants to do. It’s Sunday anyway.”

Nino runs before Yoko can pounce at him again, and now they are circling the makeshift bench as the latter doesn’t seem to have the intention to stop.

Jun and Mao-chan walk toward the bench following Ohno and the Iron twins, all with their own style of sports outfits.

“I white-lined the whole field twice. We’re all ready,” Mao says as she settles her line marker hopper aside and jumps into the seat to sit beside Sho.

“And I brought food,” Sho says, pointing at the small stacks of plastic on the other side.

“Nino, I brought half of everything,” Jun says. “Aiba will bring the rest of the equipment. He’s right behind me.”

Yoko freezes at the Jun’s sentence.

Nino keeps running until he bumps into Yoko’s back, screaming while sidestepping backward only to see that Yoko has stopped chasing him.

Out of breath, he turns to everyone watching in confusion. “What just happened?”

“Jun mentioned Aiba,” Sho says. It’s only a suspicion at first but soon it’s confirmed when Yoko buries his face in his palms and walk slowly to sit on the end of the far bench with a flushed face and a dreamy smile.

“Weird,” Nino says, tapping his shoulder to dust some dirt off him.

“You’re not one to talk,” Sho says.

Nino turns to him ready with a comment, only to stop the moment he sees Jun beaming next to Sho, watching their conversation. A puff of steam bursts uncontrollably from his star tip and Nino rushes hurriedly to sit next to Mao.

*

For one with absurd rules and continuous chuffs from almost all the players involved, the game goes on smoothly. Shun makes up new rules every time one tries to put his team down, to which Nino always agrees since they are in the same team. Ohno leads the other team and doesn’t seem to care much about the score as long as he can play double catcher with Toma. Yoko is too busy running back and forth between second and third base for no reason to gain attention. Mao keeps on going round the field every once in a while, making sure that the white line is always in top condition. Jun pitches against Becky in an intense staring showdown, leaving Sho and Aiba on the bench.

“I heard you jumped off the bridge for Ohno the other night,” Aiba says, eyes focused hard on the field but with a kind tone. “That was very brave of you.”

Sho shudders with the memory—they made him jump not long after Ohno voiced the idea out at the end and since then the bridge has never been the same. The closer he gets to the ground, the safer. “Don’t remind me.”

“Nice job.” Aiba gives him a strong pat on the back and a plastic container of cookies before going back to observing the game.

Sho tears the plastic open and starts munching. Lately Aiba has been nicer to him, perhaps because now he’s used to the cold stare. Aside from the guns Sho knows are somewhere near his bodily presence, he is actually a nice guy.

They watch the game further in silence as Sho enjoys how Shun is being chased by the Iron twins; Jun and Ohno play as double catchers while Nino runs away from Becky’s attempt to seize his mask on the outfield.

When he turns to look at Aiba he can’t help to notice that Aiba’s eyes have been set on one person only and it definitely isn’t Yoko.

Sensing Sho’s questioning glances, Aiba sighs. “Did you know that she has the nicest eyes?”

She? So it’s definitely Becky. He wasn’t wrong when he though he caught a glimpse of blush on Aiba few weeks ago. “Eyes?” Sho says, “I don’t know. I am scared for my life, Aiba. I don’t think looking into Becky’s eyes was a choice I would’ve taken.”

“She’s graceful, she works so hard and, I am in constant awe. I mean, look at how she moves,” Aiba says, gesturing at Becky now taking the pitcher’s position in the middle. “All grace and beauty. And how that cute pastel apron holds her hidden stash of weaponries. It’s just a work of absolute art.”

“Where did you two meet?” Sho asks. He doesn’t specify the question. If Aiba wants to answer about Becky then he can get the story wants, but if not, Aiba can pick anyone from the field and start from there.

“It was love at first sight,” Aiba stares into space, eyes hard but with a hint of gentleness. “There’s this animal show on television—“

A short knife flies just an inch over Aiba at his right shoulder, making him waver before straightening back up within seconds.

“What?” Sho on the other hand, lets out a high-pitched scream.

“Accurate as ever,” Aiba says, beaming with pride.

“What was that?” He turns to see Becky standing twenty meters away, holding another short knife, giving them a warning and making a threatening pose. “What was that for, Becky?”

The game stops, as all players have now turned their attention to both Aiba and Becky. Sho now gets even more curious; if Becky needs to throw short knives at them to prevent Aiba’s talking about them, there must be something else. He nudges Aiba. “Go on.”

“She was radiant. Her hair looks as just soft as it is, and I was young.” Aiba still has his gaze in space when another knife flies their way, dangerously missing by a fraction of inch now by his ear.

“Becky!” Sho groans in disappointment, turning to the field and giving his voice the last bit of courage he has. “It’s dangerous. And he’s about to get to the good stuff!”

“Say that again.” Becky struts to their seat; her heels click even though she’s walking on solid ground. She stops in front of Sho, with a knife ready to pierce his eyes. “And Aiba-kun, you know I don’t miss unless it’s on purpose.”

“Your aim is perfection as always, Rebecca.” Aiba holds his hand in front of Sho before he bows his apology. “Please just excuse this new guy’s curiosity.”

“I’ve been here for nearly two months. I know stuff,” Sho says, even as he clings on Aiba’s robe sleeve and starts to tug.

Aiba mumbles his words this time. “I thought you were scared for your life?”

“I am. And that was just me reacting proactively, never mind,” Sho mumbles his response in turn and follows Aiba in bowing.

Becky stares them down for another minute before reaching to take the knife on the wall and stashing the sharp pair on her apron. She turns and walks toward the midfield again, when someone helpfully says, “Game on again!”

When everyone, or most of them, are back into their positions, Sho sits back down, now feeling the rush of breath slowly subsiding and leaving mere tingles. He is getting used to these kinds of weird occurrences the more time he’s been here; his old self would have just fled and returned to his old apartment in a heartbeat.

“I like her, Sho,” Aiba suddenly announces, startling Sho completely.

Sho has a bad feeling that it will lead to yet another occurrence but he gives Aiba his answer. “That much I can deduce.” And as if to confirm his suspicions, Yoko screams his lungs off from somewhere near third base and starts to run toward their direction. “Oh, great.”

Sho stands to yell at Yoko even when he’s still running, knocking over Mao’s hopper on the way. “Our voice is not that loud, is it? Why do you people keep on hearing interesting things that aren’t being spoken loudly?”

Aiba is even faster as he stands up abruptly, reaching into his robe sleeve to produce a hand grenade. Yoko stops short in his tracks, just a meter away from where Sho stands the moment he sees the grenade. Wide-eyed, Sho too takes a step back from Aiba the moment his senses pick up a sniff of gunpowder, for real this time.

“Aiba,” Sho says. “Calm down.”

Aiba stares hard at Yoko before curling his finger in the safety ring. “Why are you screaming?”

Sho rolls his eyes at the question but Yoko stops screaming at the action. Everyone is rushing to the bench, game completely forgotten, now that Sho’s stepped back to join the rest in the crowd that’s a mix of partly curious, partly worried and a little gleeful.

“Is, is that true?” Yoko finds his voice. “You like her? _Her_?”

Before Aiba can answer, Becky takes a few steps forward out of the crowd. “Excuse me, punk.”

“Go easy on her, Becky. He’s still a kid,” someone says, most probably Shun, judging from the false croaked voice Sho hears from behind the crowd.

“I’m not a kid!” Yoko yells at the crowd who is moving into the bench, each now holding a bag of snacks Mao and Jun have kindly distributed. “I can fly. I’m dangerous and you should know it!”

Sho snorts at Yoko’s last words, they’re the ones that Yoko likes to shout while in class, and he has seen that nothing ever comes out of the statement. Aiba stows his grenade back in his sleeve robe pocket and walks toward the crowd. Ohno helpfully gives him the opened snack bag he’s holding before grabbing a new one for himself.

“So you say you can fly,” Becky says, standing in front of Yoko with her back to the crowd.

“If you put the image of a bird and immerse yourself in its feelings and concentrate, you can.” Somehow looking smug, Yoko takes his stance, holding his big belt buckle in one hand and waving the other.

Meanwhile Nino is busy searching for something else inside the empty plastic. “Why didn’t anyone pack onigiri?”

“Because Toma let his entire lettuce crop wilt,” Sho says, reaching for the water from Mao.

“At least Mao-chan bought beer.”

“It’s not even midday, Oh-chan.” Toma elbows him while passing a can over.

Jun suddenly rises from his seat. “I forgot to write the score on the blackboard.”

“Don’t worry, I have it memorized.” Aiba says, reaching into the sleeve of his long robe again and producing, this time, a clear plastic wrapper full of cookies. “Anyone want one?”

Back on the other side of the bench, Becky eyes Yoko with little interest. “I’ll have you apologize for your implication earlier in under five minutes. No, make it three.”

“Which is it gonna be then? Five? Three? Or never?” Yoko sneers at her, gathering long “oohs” from the crowd in the background.

“Two then.”

“Is Becky any good?” Sho can’t help but ask, in a whisper though, now that he knows that everyone seems to have very heightened hearing when it comes to sensitive matters.

“Becky is the best,” Aiba, from the far side of the crowd, says.

So much for whispering. Sho continues in a normal voice. “How best?”

“Becky has this long sword. Unlike mine, it’s thin, very thin. I saw her use it once, and it’s very sharp. She can hold her sword,” Ohno says with complicated explanation gestures.

“And wait till you see her in a black leather tight cat suit,” Nino adds. A sharp knife flies a bit over his highest star point but no one cares enough to duck; Becky would’ve gone for the forehead should she mean to. “Ugh, Aiba is all over the place every time she does that.”

“Nino,” Aiba lightly warns Nino without even correcting him.

“I heard she’s a ninja, but no one that’s still breathing is able to confirm that,” Mao says, adding her own words. “Chief said we must trust those rumours if we want to keep our heads attached.”

There’s so much new information for Sho to process in a very short amount of time. “She’s _that_ scary?”

Even Jun joins the crowd in sending a disparaging look at Sho, silently telling Sho that he’d better keep quiet if he wants to avoid another short knife flying over his head because perhaps Becky won’t miss this time. But he wants to ask, just a little confirmation, and then he’ll forever hold his peace.

“Aiba?”

The glint of pride on Aiba’s straight face should have been enough to answer his question but then Aiba gives an answer. “Yes, that’s Rebecca for you.”

*

Becky does get Yoko down on his knees, in under 10 seconds, and proceeds to teach him a lesson, the kind that lesson that Sho can’t possibly deliver in a classroom, for the next minute. Yoko is still trying to boast about the flying rocket he has attached to the costume under his underwear, which will blare and ignite at the end of his contemplation.

Becky digs her heels deeper into his back and stops the empty threats effectively. “You’ve been extremely rude, Yokoyama Yu.”

“How, just how, do you know my full name?”

“That’s not your full name, but that should hold you for a while,” Becky says, sending her sharp grin along with a short knife to land inches from Yoko’s ear. “Aiba-kun!”

Dumping his cookie package immediately into Sho’s lap and sending gravel flying in a blink of an eye, Aiba runs toward her. He stops short in front of the waiting figure. “Rebecca,” he says with a deep drawl, “you called?”

“This punk is yours, I heard?”

“He’s no one’s,” Aiba says, and Yoko lets a low squeak from few inches above the ground. “Please just excuse this new guy’s rudeness. I’m sure he’s learned his lesson now.”

“All these new people around are giving me headache.”

“I’ve been here for nearly two months,” Sho pipes in with a mouth full of snacks from across the bench.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Sorry.” Sho lightly shrugs the threat off. “Oranges?” he then offers a plastic bag, the last one left since everyone has munched almost everything they brought to field today.

Huffing, Becky twirls around to stalk back home but not without snatching the bag from Sho’s outstretched hand. “We’re done here,” she says, throwing her team hat to the ground before stalking away.

“Thank you, Rebecca.” The next moment, Aiba smiles blindingly at Becky’s back, contorting his face into what appears to be a satisfied grin. “Good game, today.”

 

**Rice fields: of being home, and _Happiness_**

After a dinner break, along with a short bath and change of clothes, Sho finds a small neon green post-it pasted on top of his computer.

 

_Sho,_  
I gave Jun the most expensive wedding magazine I could find.  
Deal with that. 

_—I’ve duly done my part of the trade._

 

After checking all the zippers and tiny windows he has on this tent and finding them undamaged, Sho feels it’d be best to not know how Becky managed to get the post-it in. He should start to worry about Jun and his new magazine after all.

Sho picks up his phone to find a few missed calls from Kimura. The man calls him almost every day now and Sho’s beginning to run out of excuses. Steeling himself before dialling the number to return the call, he wonders what it is this time.

*

The field is suspiciously empty as Sho walks across on his way back to his tent. He passes Ohno’s hut and hears nothing. Perhaps the man is asleep. It has been raining since morning and he had to cancel the class only to have Yoko show up and demand a lesson.

Kimura calls again in the morning, demanding that Sho come to an important shareholder’s meeting this afternoon; and just as he has been doing for the past month, he uses the same old excuse of him conducting important research for his personal project.

Sho can tell that Kimura isn’t satisfied with his sparse explanation, but he isn’t going to explain the whole situation, how he now lives with these people on Arakawa riverside and feels more content than he has ever felt his whole life.

He spots Mao wandering, her white-line hopper handle in one hand and an umbrella in the other, when he nearly reaches his tent. “Mao-chan.”

She looks up and pushes her hopper toward Sho, marking the wet ground as she goes. “Hello. Did you just finish your class?”

“I wrapped it up not too long ago,” Sho says. “What are you doing under the rain?”

“I picked the wrong day to go out.” Mao chuckles as she shivers from the cold. “I was thinking of go to town but maybe not in this rain.”

“You should’ve gone yesterday when it was blistering heat all day then.”

“I didn’t feel like going out yesterday,” Mao says.

Sho has heard from Jun that Mao deals with bringing beverages and other convenience goods for everyone in exchange for recyclable items. Yet she doesn’t go out too often because she mostly doesn’t feel like going around sometimes, and she chooses to stay home and spend time in leisure at her place. When no one sees her for more than four days, sometimes Chief has to check up on her to see that she’s safe and sound asleep.

Sho notices the shivers are getting uncontrollable. “Do you want to come over for a while then? You can wait till the rain stops. I have hot coffee.”

“Oh, that sounds good if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all.”

They take the roundabout way to get to Sho’s tent because the shortcut might break the hopper. Sho walks more slowly as Mao tries to navigate her way through the wet ground.

“Rain always makes me miss my family even more,” Mao says when they arrive in front of Sho’s tent. “Don’t you miss yours?”

The sudden question takes Sho aback completely. During his time in Arakawa, no one has taken an interest in his family circumstances, and especially not in the part where he’s the successful head of a corporation. Yet Mao isn’t taking an interest in that specific aspect. She’s asking a general question, so very general that Sho can’t come up with an answer.

“No one’s ever asked me that.” Sho shakes his umbrella, sending beads of water flying back to the wet ground. “And I think I can’t answer that because I honestly don’t know how.”

Mao waits until Sho looks up and meets her gaze. “It’s okay if you don’t know. I was just asking. I don’t mean to bother you with private matters.”

“It was a good question, though,” Sho says, bitterly shaking his head in unexpected embarrassment. “And I’m fine. It just got me thinking,” he adds when Mao still seems concerned.

“Let’s get that coffee you offered then.”

“Yes, let’s go in.”

Sho sets his umbrella and briefcase aside to get the door open for them before welcoming Mao inside to find everyone scattered around feeling pretty much at home in every corner of his tent.

“Welcome back,” Nino says before strumming his guitar and starting to sing the ballad about bumping umbrellas.

Sho turns from Nino—he will deal with the star-face later—to find Shun and Yoko crouched low and growling at each other in some sumo poses in one corner. Becky and Jun are in a heated discussion over an article that he doesn’t even want to know about in another. Ohno, who has many dark charcoal stripes decorating his cheeks, and Toma are deep in a battle of Old Maid with the Iron twins.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were holding a party,” Mao says, delighted at the crowd.

“I wasn’t,” Sho sputters. “This is breaking and entering.”

“Relax, Sho, we’re not attempting burglary here,” Aiba says from his side while twisting in a complicated yoga pose with his eyes closed.

Sho wants to utter a stream of protest, kick everyone out of his tent, his home, at that very minute, grab Nino’s guitar and toss it into the river. He even considers shouting at Aiba, or perhaps Becky if he can work himself into enough of a fit of rage. But then Ohno loses the game again and has Toma and the twins laughing and drawing on his face some more, Jun and Becky are chuckling over something funny in their article, and Mao is still waiting beside him, watching him with interest as he sorts his sanity.

He finally settles for something simple, something that crossed his mind when he first entered his hijacked tent. “I’m home.” There’s no solid answer aside from some acknowledging grunts and groans, but somehow it is enough.

*

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be somewhere? Somewhere that’s not here?” Sho has crawled back and forth trying to keep everyone under control as rain keeps on falling, hour after hour. So far nothing has broken or torn, but he can never be sure with these people.

His phone buzzes, and one glance at the screen tells him that it’s Kimura again.

He slowly goes out of the tent, tiptoeing in his shoes and squatting in the corner near the door.

“Yes.”

“Good evening, Sho-kun.”

Kimura has his tone clipped and brisk, and Sho knows that usually isn’t a good sign.

“How can I help you tonight, Kimura?”

“Sho-kun.” Kimura clears his throat on the other end of the line. ”I thought I had given you enough warnings, but apparently they weren’t sufficient.”

“About what?”

“Your father has finally been informed of your whereabouts at the moment.” Kimura softens his tone when he hears Sho sighs heavily. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t say anything.

“You think I didn’t know how you spent the last few months by Arakawa river?”

“How do—“

“I do have my sources, and they are nearly as good as your father’s. If mine could locate you, it’d be an easy task for your father’s eyes.”

“I, I was just. This research project needs—“ Sho falls silent when he realizes that Kimura is giving him a chance to lie if he wants to. He’s been lying to the man for months now, what would another month, or a few more months make a difference. Except it will, and Sho knows it. What would the man, his father, the great man who leads the Sakurai Corporation, do? Sho has to shudder at the thought.

“Kimura,” Sho says, “I live here now.”

“I know.”

“And I’m not planning to change that any time soon.”

“I know.”

Sho can almost see the faint crooked smile Kimura uses to flash at him whenever the man is happy with his work.

“You look like you’re enjoying you time over there, Sho-kun,” the man says. “But I believe your father has made a decision. It’s going to be a development project by Arakawa river, three interconnected apartment complexes and a small shopping mall. I haven’t read the briefs, but that is what I heard from top office tonight.”

Sho closes his eyes, breathing his frustration out. He should’ve known. After all, he grew up learning from his father about persistence and hardship. Whatever is coming his way it won’t be easy.

“Is that all?”

“That’s as much as I heard tonight. I’ll hear more tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you can finally come clean about your dubious life arrangement at the moment.”

Sho laughs at that. “You should come over soon then. You know where it is, right?”

“I do.”

“Good.”

“Very well then. I’ve bothered your night long enough,” Kimura says, and Sho could hear the distant car honk on the other end of the line. “I’ll leave it to you, so you can go back and enjoy your home party.”

“Home party? What? Where are you right now?”

“Good night, Sir,” Kimura says with a laugh before he hangs up.

*

Sho walks back in and goes straight to one corner, ignoring the looks everyone’s throwing at him. Nino’s off-tune guitar strum stops for a moment before it starts again in a harsher tone. He turns and sees that everyone has gone back to whatever they’ve been doing when he came in and tries to take comfort in the loud company.

“Rock!”

“Nino, your music is ballads, with occasional syrupy pop bits. Stop saying rock. It doesn’t mix well with your posture,” Mao teases him.

“Mao-chan, that’s mean!”

Shun materializes beside him, distracting him from Ohno’s slow motion sumo fight with Aiba at the end the tent.

“I’m sorry to hear what you’ve just heard.”

“That’s you admitting to eavesdropping,” Sho says, without any bite. In fact, he feels a little bit lighter knowing that he might have someone to share his burden with, even if it’s a weird man in a green wetsuit. “The trade was so stupid.”

“Was it really?” Shun says. “Isn’t the happiness maybe be worth all the hardship at the end?”

“Happiness is not about ‘ _Come on everybody say! Yeah yeah yeah!_ ’”

“It can be.”

Sho squints sceptically at Shun.

Shun throws him a quizzical look. “It might be. Who's to know? The memory of happiness is naïve, but that’s fine.”

“That didn’t make any sense,” Sho says, “at all.”

“It doesn’t have to.” Shun turns and smiles, aiming his painted green smile at Sho’s confused face. “We’re all in your favor then.”

“People! Now is the time you’ve all been waiting for,” Toma calls out. “Chief’s infamous gag!” Low-voiced cheers fill the tent. Shun pats Sho on the head and heads to the center of the tent to get around.

“Ah, thank you for waiting, everyone!”

Jun comes to sit next to Sho as everyone arranges their seats to circle the brown paper box. “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Sho says. He reaches for Jun’s cold hand and keeps it on his lap. All that trading and betting was for nothing, Sho wants to say, but it’s hard to do anything but smile contently as Jun’s hand clasps tightly in his—perhaps a bit too tight for his blood circulation, and somehow, it _is_ enough.

 

.


End file.
